A MEDICAL student has been jailed for life today after he was found guilty of murdering a Colchester nurse.

James Hore

A MEDICAL student has been jailed for life after he was found guilty of murdering a Colchester nurse.

Daniel Tambengwa denied killing Ella Chimweta, 32, at their home in the Highwoods area of Colchester in July last year.

But today a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court returned a guilty verdict on the 30-year-old who fled to Cameroon after strangling Miss Chimweta.

Jude Christopher Ball QC sentenced Tambengwa to life in prison and ordered that he serve at least 15 years before he can be considered for parole.

Tambengwa, who was dressed in a dark suit, shook his head as the verdict was announced.

He was found not guilty of two charges of attempting to engage an 11-year-old girl in sexual activity. All the verdicts were unanimous.

The nurse's body lay undiscovered in the couple's bedroom for more than a week until it was discovered by 11-year-old girl from Zimbabwe, who had been staying with them.

A jury of eight men and four women had heard Miss Chimweta, who worked at Colchester General Hospital, suffered bruising to her neck, possibly fracturing it, consistent with being strangled.

By the time her partially clothed body was found in her bedroom, it was so badly decomposed it was difficult to tell exactly what had happened on the evening of July 9 or morning of July 10.